robert de niro

Regis Philbin's farewell tour has celebrated the many half-weird, half-endearing aspects of his on-screen persona with a run of awesome montages. Monday's 'Live' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC) installment payed tribute to Regis' various bromances in a mancrush-mashup that featured footage of Reeg gushing over Matt Damon, Kobe Bryant, David Letterman and more.

In a surprise twist at the end of the tribute, Robert De Niro appeared from backstage to present Regis with a dozen roses and wish him a fond farewell.

As they hugged it out, Regis told De Niro, "You don't mind all the other guys, do you? They're just passing friends, you're the man, you really are." Right back at you, Reeg.

Robert De Niro has played gangsters, mafia dons and sociopaths, and now he's set to take on the biggest white-collar villain of them all: disgraced Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff.

HBO, in collaboration with De Niro's Tribeca Productions, has purchased the rights to the book 'Truth and Consequences: Inside the Life of the Madoff Family,' according to the UK Daily Mail. The biography, which will serve as the source material for the TV movie, was the basis for the Madoff family's recent '60 Minutes' interviews.

'Reservation Road' writer John Burnham Schwartz will write the screenplay, according to Deadline. The book 'The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust,' will also be used to inform the project.

Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Naturally, TV networks of all sizes have compiled a diverse list of tribute programs, news reports and documentaries to commemorate the occasion.

Highlights include Showtime's documentary 'The Love We Make,' a behind-the-scenes look at Paul McCartney's 2001 Concert For New York, which airs Saturday night; CBS's Robert De Niro-narrated '9/11,' which airs Sunday night; and the Melissa Leo-starring film 'The Space Between,' which airs Sunday night on USA.

Over the weekend Robert De Niro had some harsh words for Donald Trump, comparing him to a used-car salesman for his constant questioning of Barack Obama's birthplace.

Of course, Trump jumped at the opportunity to respond to De Niro's criticism when it was brought up during a phone interview he did Monday on 'Fox & Friends' (weekdays, 6 AM ET on Fox News)

"Well, he's not the brightest bulb in the planet," Trump said of De Niro. "I have been watching him over the years and I like his acting but in terms of when I watch him doing interviews and various other things, we are not dealing with Albert Einstein."

According to the Live Feed, Thursday's episode, featuring the Snooki arrest fallout and JWoww's breakup, was seen by 8.9 million viewers. This is MTV's largest audience for a series telecast ever -- the previous record was set a few weeks ago after the season 2.5 premiere. Last week's episode had 8.6 million viewers.

'Jersey Shore's' audience is about two times the size of NBC's 'Community.' Just sayin'.

In other TV News ...

• The cast of CBS's 'Criminal Minds' sorta hopes the new spinoff series, 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,' fails. Say what? Series star Shemar Moore is quoted as saying, "I'm flattered that we've done such a good job that they would like to do another show, but there's another part of me that wants it to fail." [TV Guide Canada]

•First Lady Michelle Obama will sit down with Oprah Winfrey for an episode of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' Obama's interview will focus on the launch of a campaign to support families with somebody serving in the military. The show is set to air on Thurs., Jan. 27. [Hollywood Reporter]

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been using Twitter to give us little glimpses into the presenters roster for this year's Golden Globes Awards.

Ricky Gervais will be hosting the awards for the second time and will be joined on-stage at the Jan. 16 ceremony by a bevy of TV and movie stars including Matt Damon, Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lopez.

The most recent presenters to be Tweeted into the lineup are 'TRON: Legacy' star Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester from 'Gossip Girl.'

Well, Diddy got his wish, but was it worth it for Robert De Niro? Sean "Diddy" Combs was the musical guest on this week's 'Saturday Night Live' (Sat., 11:30PM ET on NBC). He appeared along with third-time host Bobby (we call him "Bobby") De Niro. And the rapper started a Twitter campaign to be included in a sketch with the actor.

So, that happened -- but it may not have been the highlight of De Niro's career. The musician and the actor appeared together in a sketch featuring Andy Samberg as "Blizzard Man" -- the world's most clueless (and untalented) rapper. De Niro dressed up in drag to play Blizzard Man's mom, and soon enough, Diddy was hitting on him ... well, her.

While De Niro was decked out in a form-fitting sweater, sunglasses, and a questionable hairstyle, Diddy attempted to seduce him (her). Mr. Combs laid down such lines such as "Girl, you the one that's hot fire," and "If you wasn't my man's mom, I'd tear that a## up" -- and okay, let's just shut this whole thing down right now.

(I can call you Bob, right? I mean, we've never met, but I feel like we can be chummy enough for me to do that... no? Well, Ok, let me try again...)

Dear Mr. De Niro,

Despite the fact that I haven't seen a movie with you in it since the bitter and boring disappointment that was 'Showtime,' I'm still a huge fan of yours. Sure, you haven't exactly made the smartest career decisions over the last ten years; your most memorable roles lately seem to be in the endless stream of 'Fockers' movies that inflict themselves on the public every few years. But you built up plenty of goodwill with me over the decades, through movies as diverse as 'Taxi Driver' and 'Midnight Run' (still one of my favorites), for me to forgive the 21st century portion of your IMDb profile.

So, as a big fan of yours, I'm here, on my virtual knees. I don't usually beg anyone for anything, as I have my pride. But, pride be damned; I'm begging you right here and now:

Please don't suck on 'SNL' this weekend like you did the last time you hosted. I just can't go through that again.

If Diddy has something to say about it, though, he'll take part in some skits too. The musician-turned-actor tweeted earlier this week, "OK SO DENIRO DONT KNOW IT YET BUT WE DOIN A SKIT TOGETHER ON SNL. BECAUSE I SAID SO. ITS LIVE TV SO IMMA BUMRUSH THE STAGE LILMAMA STYLE LOL."

According to Deadline Hollywood, the 'Project Runway' host has been tapped to front 'Seriously Funny Kids,' a new reality series similar to 'Kids Say the Darndest Things.' The project will see Klum interacting with youngsters, hopefully to humorous results.

"I have four children under the age of six, and to be honest, sometimes I enjoy them more than adults," Klum said in a statement. "They're uncensored, unpredictable and absolutely hilarious."

In other TV news ...

• Robert De Niro has sold a crime drama to CBS. The actor has teamed with crime writer Richard Price for 'Rookies,' a police drama about young officers who are sent into high-crime areas. De Niro and Price will serve as executive producers. [Live Feed]

• Richard Chamberlain has been cast on ABC's 'Brothers & Sisters.' Chamberlain is set to play somebody from Saul's past who complicates things a bit. Former lover? Perhaps. [Ausiello Files]

• TBS is developing a reality show based on the Funny or Die video of Jewel doing undercover karaoke. The series, 'Undercover Karaoke,' will feature celebrities in disguise performing karaoke. [Deadline Hollywood]

"I just finished a movie, yeah, with the big man ... I call him Bob -- it's crazy," said Cooper. For one scene, Cooper told De Niro to "just really lay into me so I'll really feel it ... Say I'm a fake and all this stuff."

The camera started rolling, and De Niro obliged, churning out a lengthy, withering critique.

Cooper's reaction? He missed his cue to walk into the camera frame. "It was so real, I was just destroyed."

The honors from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which some consider a precursor to the Oscars, will be broadcast live on NBC from the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sun., Jan. 17, 8PM ET. This year's telecast will also air live on the West Coast, beginning at 5PM.

Berry, Farrell and Fox join the previously announced Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Mickey Rourke on the growing roster of award presenters. In addition (and as also previously announced), the coveted Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement will be presented by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

I'll probably end up seeing it on DVD, but Everybody's Fine isn't really making me rush out to the theater in the way I feel a De Niro movie should. You can read Cinematical's review of it here.